I had the opportunity tonight to spend some time with like minded people at a book signing by Dean Karnazes for his latest book 50/50, Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days - And How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance. I'd seen Dean before at a signing for his first book Ultramarathon Man. I've even had the chance to run along side him, for a short period of time, at the St. George Marathon in 2006. S. George was marathon 21 of the 50 for him. Although he finished well ahead of me he was still around the finish area when I got there and my wife was able to snap a picture of us together. I admit it, I'm a fan of the guy.He spent only a few minutes talking about the new book and then graciously answered questions for at least 30 minutes. He insists that he's just an average guy with a passion for running. His hope for this book is to encourage the rest of us mere mortals to pursue our passions, whether they are running related or not.
A few days ago Greg; a runner, a blogger and a journalist; got to spend some time on the road with Dean. Greg interviewed Dean for his newspaper. Some of the out takes can be found here on Greg's blog. I’ve had the opportunity to run with Greg on the trails in the Santa Ana Mountains. He is a laid back long mileage trail runner. If you poke around his blog very long you’ll see he likes the long runs. One of the coolest things I think he’s done has been the Coastal Challenge, a 6 day stage race in Costa Rica.
While standing in the line to get the book signed I chatted for bit with a young guy behind me. He runs the marathon distance regularly, usually in the middle of the night, as part of his regular training, yet he’s never run an actual marathon. He is planning on running the inaugural Pasadena Marathon later this year as his first official. I should have asked him more about what motivates him to run so far at such odd times.
A kinda cool side note to the book signing was that I got to meet, Billy of L.A. Runner. I’ve been following his blog for the last couple of months. It is always cool to run into virtual folks in person. He just finished the San Francisco marathon a couple of weeks back in sub 4:00 time and is on his way to the next one, California International in December.
12 comments:
Great meeting you again Darrell...bummed though that I totally forgot to get a picture with you!
oh well...keep up the hard work brother!
Cool you got to meet/talk with Dean again, Darrell. That is neat! I'm sorry I missed the film that just released, but it didn't play anywhere near our little burg.
Hope your week is going well!
Dean is the man!! Funny how a bunch of like minded people gather at a book signing :-)
That's cool that you got to meet Dean. I need to pick up his book.
A special occasion to stimulate your running mind. I love those moments.
Good times at the book signing. Thanks for the lead to Greg's blog - I didn't know about him.
How cool! We met Dean once and he was such a nice guy! I need to check his book tour and see if he's coming here this time!
Hey, I made your blog! I'm honored! Hope all is well, sir!
As long as you don't mention that you are a Dean fan on the Ultralist, which is a listserv for ultra runners, you'll be fine. I am a fan of Dean as well.
I like Dean too, and one reason is because of the ways he signs his books. Mine's personalized like yours and it makes it all the more special. I'm glad you've had so many personal encounters with him. It sounds like you had a great time at the signing.
Guess they're not secrets anymore ;-)
DK is doing his thing sure wish I could make a living running, sounds like a nice get together plus meeting other runners is always fun.
I don't understand those Dean haters. The guy loves to run and gets others excited about running. Very cool you could run with him.
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